Market shaping
Norfolk County Council's ambition is to shape a sustainable, person-centred care market that enables people to live independently for as long as possible. Our ambition is clear - but so too are the challenges we face. The adult social care system continues to experience significant pressures, including rising demand, workforce shortages, and financial constraints. In response, we are taking forward a programme of market shaping and transformation that looks beyond immediate challenges and plans for the future.
Market shaping means planning ahead to ensure the right services are available in the right places at the right time. Our approach is rooted in promoting independence, building on community strengths, and creating the conditions for providers to innovate, invest, and remain resilient.
This work includes a series of strategic programmes and transformation initiatives, co-produced with providers, people in receipt of care and support, and partners across health and housing. These programmes put our key aims into practice - improving quality, ensuring sustainability and sufficiency, and strengthening relationships. Their purpose is to improve outcomes and deliver best value for the whole system.
Market shaping and transformation provide the tools to achieve that vision, turning shared ambitions into lasting change.
Strategic market shaping
These programmes are being developed in partnership with providers, people who are in receipt of care and support, and other key stakeholders.
Principal provider approach to home care
We are implementing a new commissioning model based on longer-term contracts with a smaller number of high-quality providers, aligned to Primary Care Network (PCN) boundaries. This approach supports local integration, drives innovation, and promotes greater stability and sustainability within the home care market.
Reablement
Continue to invest in the reablement offer that enables people to continue living independently at home. This includes supporting people being discharged from hospital but also those in the community, preventing the need for a formal care package. We are also working with home care providers in the market to provide reablement care and support through the caring for better outcomes framework, working alongside the Norfolk First Support service. We want to develop our reablement offer to better support people with a learning disability or mental health need, who would benefit from this intervention.
Specialist housing programme
We are delivering a major capital programme to expand high-quality specialist housing, including independent and supported living schemes. The aim is to enable more people to live independently in their communities and, where appropriate, reduce reliance on residential care. We are working with providers and housing developers to bring forward schemes on Council-owned and private land. Further detail is available in our specialist housing position statement.
Residential care
We are reviewing how we commission residential care for older people and working age adults. This will include reviewing the care definitions we currently use and how the existing framework operates, when we commission care with providers. The updated model - due for implementation from 2028 - will more accurately reflect market requirements, complexity of need and support more sustainable provision.
We are also making improvements to how we source residential placements, making it easier to work with the Council. This includes having a single point of contact within the brokerage service and the use of direct award for older people placements. We also want to develop the framework for the delegation of health tasks, in partnership with providers and the ICB.
Nursing care
Working in partnership with Suffolk County Council, Norfolk Community Health and Care, and the Norfolk and Waveney ICB, this programme aims to improve outcomes and sustainability in nursing care through joint commissioning, quality improvement, and better alignment of funding and responsibilities.
Day opportunities transformation
We are developing a new life opportunities strategy to be implemented from 2026. The strategy will focus on prevention, community inclusion, and supporting people into training and employment - delivered in partnership with national and local initiatives.
